Japanese hat brands head overseas

[From JapanConsuming, February, 2010]
CA4LA (pronounced Kashira) has been one of the great success stories in the apparel market in the last decade, surprising perhaps for a busi- ness that just sells hats. Often overlooked because the hat business doesn’t generate very high levels of turnover, nevertheless CA4LA is representative of the best of the new breed of fashion retailers. Like Point, United Arrows, Mode et Jacomo, Ur- ban Research, Earth, Music & Ecology and others, CA4LA focuses on developing the top line assets – staff, stores and product – in the belief that the bot- tom line will take care of itself. As well as working with Japanese craftsman, CA4LA uses European manufacturers and designers to develop new lines not known in Japan. Its parent, Weave Toshi, is still just a ¥3.3 billion business from 25 stores but sales have grown by a third in three years.
The brand punches above its weight partly be- cause of the devoted following among fashion styl- ists and magazine editors, and it has been operat- ing overseas for three years too. It opened a store in London in 2006 and has since expanded wholesale operations across Europe. The small London store turns over around ¥60 million a year while whole- sale exports to Europe amount to ¥15 million. It will now start expanding in Asia and will open stores in China this year.
To build its brand further, CA4LA opened a new flagship store in Omotesando in December. There are already two other CA4LA stores in the area, but Weave Toshi is hoping the new location on Omotesando itself will become well known among Chinese tourists lured to the area by luxury brand flagships.
Another Japanese hat maker also developing an overseas following is General Design. Like CA4LA,
General Design has proved resistant to the down- turn in apparel spending, with sales for the last Autumn/Winter season up 70% on the year before – even more remarkable since the majority of sales are through department stores with the JR Takash- imaya corner alone selling ¥10 million a year. The Osaka-based firm, which was started in 2005, fo- cuses on a slightly older 30s and 40s segment with two brands, Rohw Master Product and Maniera. From this Spring, it will be stocked at Fred Segal in LA and a number of Hong Kong stores, and Gen- eral Design forecasts 30% of sales will come from exports within two years.
Hat retailing remains a small, niche business by definition but as CA4LA in particular shows, attention to the finer details of product planning and retailing that many of the new breed of up and coming retailers display, is also bearing fruit in niche product categories too, providing optimism to those expecting Japanese fashion to become a major source of exports in the next five years.